


Animal Magnetism

by Ikira



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Animals are sick but none get hurt I promise, Basically this ship needs more fluffy fun AUs so here's a completely random Vet AU plz enjoy, Boys pining and being idiots about it, Boys pining and being obvious about it, Cats, Dogs, Kittens, Like so minor it hardly counts, M/M, Mentions of past abusive relationships, Vet!Shiro, Veterinarian AU, boys getting wet, mentions of past Haggar/Shiro, minor/background Klance, other cute animals
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-16
Updated: 2016-08-18
Packaged: 2018-08-09 04:17:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 14,213
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7786465
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ikira/pseuds/Ikira
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Typically when you're bringing your sick dog to the vet, you don't usually find love while you're sitting in the waiting room. But Matt takes one look at Dr. Shirogane, and immediately he's head over heels. Even though he's sure it's just a crush, he finds himself going out of his way to find excuses to see the vet again.</p>
<p>But there's only so many times you can go to the vet in a short period of time without it looking suspicious or racking up a huge bill, so Matt (with a little help from his sister Katie) finds an alternative way to spend as much time with his crush as possible. And if it comes with the bonus of hanging out with adorable animals, he's definitely not going to complain.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So I wrote this because Shatt needs more fluffy fun AU love and someone beat me to the coffee shop AU.
> 
> I want to give a huge thanks to **thesquirrelisonfire, drferox,** and **knightlychika** on tumblr for looking this fic over. I have next to no experience with veterinarian offices or animal shelters, so they helped me try to make things more accurate. Unfortunately some of the scenes aren't quite true-to-life, and I was unable to re-write them to be more realistic without trashing half the story, so my apologies to anyone who actually works with animals. Please feel free to take this with a grain of salt. The fault is all on me, not any of my excellent fact-checkers.
> 
> I also want to thank **knightlychika** and **sexythewalkingcatfish** for being my betas. Any leftover grammar or spelling errors are all on me.
> 
> So yeah. Hope you enjoy these silly Shatt shenanigans, my latest contribution to the rarepair that has seriously stolen my soul.

“Katie, come on. I promise, Rover’s going to be fine, you don’t have to worry,” Matt said when he heard sniffling in the back seat. He dared to look back in the rear-view mirror so he could check on his passengers. Katie was clutching the family dog to her chest, her eyes looking a little misty, while Rover just snuffed sleepily in her arms. “You don’t remember this because you were too little at the time, but Rover got sick like this all the time when he was a puppy. He bounced back within a week every time. He probably just needs some medicine.”

“I know, I’m not _stupid_ ,” Katie huffed, trying her hardest to appear tough. “I’m just mad. I _told_ mom and dad we should have been taking him to the vet more often! Maybe he wouldn’t be this sick if we actually took him for his check-ups!”

Matt stayed silent, because he knew that nothing he could say would make her feel better. She was right, of course, they should have been taking Rover to the vet regularly. But between Dad’s job with NASA having him work long hours, Mom’s new business taking off, and Matt being overwhelmed with trying to get his Masters, they just never seemed to have time. And now poor Rover was paying for it.

The rest of the trip was silent, aside from Katie’s angry sniffles in the back seat. Matt nearly sighed in relief as he turned the corner and saw the vet’s office come into view. Maybe once Rover was in capable hands, Katie would calm down a bit.

When they climbed out of the car, Katie didn’t even bother letting Rover down to walk. She just carried the dog in her arms, even though he wasn’t exactly a small animal. But when Matt tried to say something, she just shot him a nasty glare that could peel paint, and he wisely backed off. She stomped up the steps to the front door with Rover in her arms, and Matt barely got in front of her in time to help her open it.

“Hi there, welcome to PetVet,” the man at the counter greeted them warmly. His nametag identified him as ‘Hunk’, and he was wearing a polo shirt over scrub pants, with his shaggy hair pushed back with an orange bandana. “How can I help you?”

“My dog is sick,” Katie announced. She held Rover up a bit higher so he could see. “He needs to see a vet right away.”

Hunk’s smile immediately shifted into a serious expression. “What’s his name? Have you been here before?” he asked, already typing away at the computer in front of him. “Do we have your phone number on file?”

“This is Rover. We have been here before, but…it’s been a while since our last visit,” Matt admitted reluctantly. He could _feel_ Katie’s anger and indignation radiating off of her. He quickly rattled off the home number, tapping his fingers absently on the counter as he waited for Hunk to pull up Rover’s profile.

Hunk let out a small hum. “Hmmm, it _has_ been a while since your last visit. It says here that you used to see Dr. Alfor, right?”

“That’s right,” Matt confirmed. Rover had started whimpering, and Katie was trying to shush him with scratches behind his ears.

“Unfortunately, Dr. Alfor retired over a year ago,” Hunk told them. Even though there was absolutely no judgement in his voice, Matt still felt a pang of guilt. God, they really should have brought Rover in sooner. “But we have a new vet in who has taken over most of Dr. Alfor’s patients. He’s new, but he’s already really good, I’m sure you’ll like him. Can you quickly give me the gist of what’s happening to Rover? I’ll make a note for the vet and he’ll see you as soon as he’s done with his current patient.”

At this point Katie stepped forward, shoving Matt out of the way with her elbow. Matt grunted in pain, but she just ignored him, all of her attention on Hunk. “Yes, I can. He threw up this morning, and he didn’t eat his treats even though they’re his _favourite_ , and he _always_ eats his treats, and…”

Matt wandered off towards the waiting room area, confident that Katie had everything well in hand and that she didn’t need him anymore. With a sigh he sat down on one of the hard plastic chairs, picked up a pamphlet to read, and settled in to wait. After a few minutes Katie joined him, Rover still clutched tightly in her arms. When Matt glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, he could see her straining a little.

“Want me to hold him for a bit?” he offered.

“No,” she said firmly, holding Rover a little bit tighter. The dog sighed, used to her manhandling, his tail wagging weakly. “I’m fine.”

Matt let it go. If she said she was fine, she wasn’t going to let him help. She was stubborn like that.

They waited for about ten minutes, Katie staring resolutely at the far wall and absently stroking Rover’s silky ears, Matt working his way through the information pamphlets they had on display. Then, they heard the sound of a door opening, the sound of a conversation as two people stepped out of a far room. The first to come into view was a little old lady clutching a cat carrier in one thin bony hand, the cat inside a dark smudge peering out of the side. The lady was smiling warmly, reaching up to pat someone on the shoulder.

“Thank you doctor, for all of your help. I must say, you certainly have a way with animals! I’ve never seen Romeo so well behaved at the vet!” She patted the top of the carrier.

A warm rich laugh answered her, and Matt absently perked up a little.

“Well, I’ve never seen such a well behaved cat!” The vet had a deep voice, but he spoke gently to the old woman. Matt instantly felt at ease just hearing that voice; it was so soothing. It was a good voice for a vet, for someone who had to keep scared animals calm and had to talk to upset pet owners, he thought. He would probably be able to handle Katie without trouble.

That was the only reason he was paying such close attention, Matt told himself firmly.

But then the little old lady was walking over to Hunk to pay her bill and the vet walked into the waiting room, and Matt felt his eyes go wide and his heart rate speed up.

The vet was the most beautiful man that Matt had ever laid eyes on.

“Rover?” the vet called out, even though they were the only ones in the waiting room. Katie immediately jumped to her feet, nearly dropping Rover but managing to catch him at the last second by adjusting her grip.

“Here!” she said, rushing over to hold out the dog. Matt followed much more slowly, mostly because he was still feeling a bit stunned. He knew he was staring, but somehow he couldn’t find it in himself to look away. The man was absolutely gorgeous! Young, for a vet. Probably just recently graduated. But he was also built like an athlete, with a broad chest and shoulders that Matt could see even under the white lab coat he wore.

The vet was inspecting Rover in Katie’s arms with a frown, his brow slightly wrinkled in concern, but the expression only made him seem more warm and inviting. When the vet looked over at him, Matt nearly swallowed his own tongue.

“Well, why don’t we head into the exam room so I can look at Rover. I’m Dr. Shirogane by the way, nice to meet you.” He held out his hand for Matt to shake. Matt brought his own hand up on autopilot, hoping it wasn’t visibly shaking, and took Dr. Shirogane’s. The vet had a good strong handshake, his palm warm and dry against Matt’s own, and his eyes crinkled at the corners when he gave Matt a smile.

“Nice to meet you too,” Matt said faintly, feeling dizzy. Was he blushing? It felt like he was blushing. Oh god, please don’t be blushing, he was pale as a ghost after spending so much time locked up in his room working on his thesis, and it would be so incredibly obvious if he was.

But just then, Rover and Katie came to the rescue. The dog let out a low whine, and Katie impatiently stepped in. “Hi, I’m Katie, that’s my brother Matt, and this is Rover. Can we please look at him now?” she urged.

“Of course,” Dr. Shirogane said smoothly, probably used to people being edgy when their pets were sick. “Right this way.”

He led them into an exam room and had Katie set Rover down on the table. Once she did, she finally stepped back, taking her place beside Matt so they could watch Dr. Shirogane as he worked. The vet was impressive, handling Rover easily and checking him over quickly and confidently. By the time he was done, Katie seemed to have finally relaxed, ready to believe that Rover was in good hands.

“Seems to me that it’s just a case of eating something he shouldn’t,” Dr. Shirogane explained once he’d finished his exam. “Maybe he got into the garbage or stole some food from your plate when you weren’t looking. Did you leave any food unattended that might have gone missing?”

Both Matt and Katie paused for a moment, trying to remember, before Katie’s eyes lit up. “Wait, then it _wasn’t_ you that ate my ice cream!” she exclaimed, staring at Matt.

“Wait, _that’s_ what you were mad about, yesterday?” Matt groaned, momentarily forgetting his shyness in the face of his indignation. “Of _course_ I didn’t eat it! I _hate_ rocky road!”

“Heathen,” she spat.

“Sounds like that could be it,” Dr. Shirogane smoothly interrupted their argument, making them both duck their heads and blush. “You said he’s only thrown up twice, right? I’m not seeing anything too concerning at this point, so I don’t think you should be too worried, though I’m going to do a quick x-ray to be sure there’s nothing stuck in his stomach. He’ll most likely be fine.”

Katie practically sagged against Matt’s side in relief.

After Dr. Shirogane had taken Rover for the scan and come back, he led Rover back into the room on the leash, a comforting smile on his face.

“Everything looks fine,” he reported to them happily. “I saw nothing in his digestive tract, so whatever he ate he successfully expelled. He should recover quickly, so long as he doesn’t get into anything else. Still, I should probably see him again within the next couple of days, just to make sure he’s recovering well. And,” he glanced down at Rover’s chart, raising an eyebrow, “it looks like it’s been a while since Rover had a proper check-up. Why don’t we kill two birds with one stone here. Can you bring him in again next week?”

Matt had two midterms and a paper due next week. He couldn’t bring Rover back next week.

“Sure,” he said immediately, his voice squeaky and high-pitched. “We can do that!”

Katie shot him a look.

“Okay,” Dr. Shirogane gave them a warm smile, absently scratching Rover behind the ears, somehow finding Rover’s favourite spot right away even though he’d never met Rover before. The dog’s eyes closed in pure bliss.

“You can set something up with Hunk at the counter, he’d be happy to help you find the best time. As for _you_ ,” he addressed Rover affectionately, shaking his finger at the dog’s snout in admonishment. “Stay out of human food, okay? It’s not good for you.” Matt _melted_ at the sight. If he hadn’t already fallen hard for Dr. Shirogane, this would have been the moment that doomed him.

Dr. Shirogane led them back to the counter where Hunk was waiting for them, chatting Katie up about Rover and giving them instructions on how to make Rover feel better and how to prevent this from happening again. Matt was very glad that Katie was doing all of the talking, because he was pretty sure the only noises he would be making right now if he dared open his mouth would be an embarrassing smitten giggle. So he carefully kept his lips sealed.

Matt and Katie waited as Dr. Shirogane leaned over and murmured something into Hunk’s ears, and then he left them with a wave and another of his stop-your-heart smiles. Matt watched him go helplessly, his heart pounding in his chest.

“All better?” Hunk asked, breaking through Matt’s daydreaming. Matt jumped a little, and turned back towards the counter guiltily.

“Yeah,” Katie answered. “Or, well, he will be in a day or two.”

“That’s good,” Hunk said sincerely. He tapped away at the keyboard for a bit, presumably filling out Rover’s profile and ringing up the bill.

While he was working, Matt noticed an absolutely beautiful Siamese cat jump up onto the counter, stalking towards them with a regal air. It was followed by the fluffiest long-haired orange tabby that Matt had ever seen.

“Oh, hello Allura, Coran,” Hunk greeted the cats with a grin. “Come to say hi to our visitors?”

The two cats stopped and sat on the counter in front of them. The tabby was watching Rover, who was finally standing on his own paws, with a suspicious look, but the Siamese was staring at Matt with the most beautiful blue eyes he’d ever seen. Enchanted, Matt held out his hand for the cat to sniff.

He’d always wanted a cat.

“Who are these?” Matt asked, holding as still as possible as the Siamese inspected his fingers. He felt a thrill of satisfaction when it seemed to find him acceptable, and started rubbing its face over his hand. He took the opportunity to stroke its sleek pale fur.

“That is the lovely Allura,” Hunk told him proudly, “And her shadow there is Coran. Don’t worry, he seems a bit mean, but that’s just because he’s really overprotective of Allura. As long as she likes you, he’ll like you too.”

Sure enough, when Allura grew bored of him and started walking away, Coran paused to lick Matt’s fingers before taking off after her.

Katie watched them go curiously. “Are they patients?” she asked.

“No, they actually belong to Shiro. He brings them into work with him every day, along with his dog Champion, because they get up to too much mischief if he leaves them alone at home.”

“Shiro?” Matt blurted out, focusing on only one thing in Hunk’s explanation.

“Oh!” Hunk ducked his head a little, looking a bit embarrassed. “Sorry, I meant Dr. Shirogane. He jokes that his name is too long, so we should just call him Shiro. But I’m pretty sure he didn’t mean in front of the patients. That’s a bit unprofessional of me, sorry.”

“No, no, it’s okay,” Matt quickly reassured him, while rolling that over in his mind. Shiro, huh? That was kind of cute.

“Yeah, we don’t mind,” Katie added. “We won’t say anything.”

“Thanks,” Hunk grinned, and then got back to work. A few seconds later he held out a printout to them. Matt took it, knowing that Katie definitely couldn’t afford Rover’s vet bills with her part-time job at the library. Not that he made much more than her working as a TA, but at least he had a credit card. “Here’s your total for today. Now, would you like to book your follow-up now? Or would you like to call back later?”

But Matt was too busy staring at the total amount for the bill in shock. “Wait, is this right?”

Hunk blinked, pulled the paper back to check it over, and then handed it back. “Yup, everything looks right to me. What’s wrong?”

“This is way too low,” Matt said, looking at the number again, as if he might have read it wrong the first time. “I was expecting to pay double this.”

Hunk shrugged, rubbing the back of his neck. “Well, Dr. Shirogane asked me to give you guys a bit of a discount. Kind of a ‘welcome back to the practice’ thing. It’s just for the one time, though. I mean, if you _want_ to pay more, I can – ”

“No, no, that’s okay,” Matt cut in quickly, realizing he was complaining about paying _less_. “I’ll just, ah, put this on my credit card.” He held up his card, blushing.

He thought he was going to escape the vet’s office with no further embarrassment, but then the moment they stepped outside into the sun, Rover plodding along beside them on his leash, Katie turned to him and _grinned_. Matt immediately felt terror, because that was Katie’s evil grin. That grin was the sign of pain and suffering to come.

“What?” he said cautiously.

“You like the vet,” Katie announced, triumphant. Her hands were clasped behind her back, and she was practically skipping.

“What? No I don’t!” Matt tried to deny it, even though he knew that she knew. There was no way she’d missed the way he’d been looking at Dr. Shirogane.

“Yes you do, don’t even try to lie to me,” she immediately shot him down. “Come on, I’m pretty sure even Rover could tell, and he was busy trying not to puke his guts out. You think the vet is hot.”

“Well…yeah,” Matt grumbled. “He _is_.”

“But you don’t just think he’s hot. You _like_ him,” she continued, her voice taking on a sing-song tone. “You wanna _kiss_ him. You wanna ask him _out_.”

“No I don’t! He’s cute, that’s it!” Matt clapped his hands over his ears, trying to block out her laughter, but she just barreled on, on a roll now.

“You’ve been whining for _days_ about those midterms next week, and I saw your schedule. You’ve got like a million things going on. That’s always been your excuse when I’ve tried to convince you to take Rover to get a check-up before. But the second Dr. Sexy bats his eyelashes at you, you’re ready to drop everything to bring Rover back.” She laughed at him.

“Shut up! That’s not it at all.” Matt angrily dug the car keys out of his pocket so he could unlock the car. Katie opted to sit in the back again, though this time Rover sat next to her rather than being held. “I felt bad that I let Rover get sick, that’s all. I want to be a better pet owner.”

“Yeah, and you want to see Dr. Sexy again. Or should I say _Shiro_ ,” Katie smirked, relentless in her teasing. But suddenly her expression turned serious. “But really, Matt. I saw your schedule; you’ve got a crazy busy week ahead of you. Are you sure you can make it? I can always ask Dad to take us. Or Mom.”

“Mom and Dad are even busier than I am,” Matt pointed out tiredly. “It’s okay. Honest. The one midterm is in astrophysics, and you know that’s never really been an issue for me. I’m a little nervous about the programming midterm, but I’m sure I’ll be okay. Rover needs to be seen, and that’s more important. I’ll make time.”

Katie absently chewed on her lip for a moment, thinking. Then she reached out across to the front seat and placed a hand on Matt’s shoulder. “Do you want my help at all with that programming midterm? You know I get this stuff better than you.”

Matt didn’t bother feeling insulted at her blunt tone; he knew she was right. Katie had always been a brilliant programmer, showing talents even when they were children, and it had never really bothered him. He would rather be proud of her than jealous.

He smiled at her in the rear-view mirror. “That would be really appreciated. Thank you.”

“No problem, bro,” she said, and then she leaned back and snuggled with Rover for the rest of the ride home.

+++

Matt yawned as they pulled up to the vet’s office the next week. It was disgustingly early in the morning, the sun barely up, but this was the only time he could squeeze into his schedule to take Katie and Rover back to the vet. He was honestly kind of shocked that they were even open this early. But when he pulled on the door handle, it opened easily, and he gestured Katie and Rover through with another yawn, sipping at the coffee he’d picked up on the way.

When they walked in, he expected Hunk to be waiting for them, but instead he found two new people behind the counter. The one was standing with his back to him so that all they could see of him was short brown hair and deep brown skin above his uniform collar, but the other young man was facing them. His long dark hair framed his pale angular face and bright eyes that were currently fixing the other employee with a death glare. Allura and Coran were on the windowsill, though only Coran seemed to be paying any attention to what was happening. Allura was asleep, basking in the sunlight.

“For the _last time_ , Lance,” he growled. “Nyma _can’t be pregnant_. She’s been spayed!”

“Well, then,” Lance snapped. “How do you explain the weight gain? Her belly getting bigger?”

“She’s getting fat because you feed her too many treats!”

Lance gasped, affronted. “No I don’t! If anything it’s _you_ who gave her too many treats! She’s _your_ rabbit!”

“No she’s not, she’s _yours_.”

“I could have sworn that she was – hey!” Lance yelped as the other employee finally seemed to notice Katie and Matt, shoving by so he could take his place at the counter. “Keith! Watch it!”

“Hi, welcome to Pet Vet,” Keith greeted them with a monotone, showing none of the warmth that Hunk had. “How can we help you?”

Lance finally caught on that they had visitors, because he immediately straightened up, giving them a sheepish grin. “Hey guys! Sorry about that, didn’t see you there!” He actually pushed Keith out of the way, chair and all, so that he could lean across the counter and grin at them. “How can _I_ help you today?”

“Lance!” Keith shouted, hopping out of the chair angrily.

“Um, actually,” Matt cut in before the two could start fighting again. Was this normal behaviour for people working at a vet’s office? The cats certainly didn’t seem to be bothered, as if they saw this kind of thing all the time. “We’re here for a follow up appointment with Dr. Shirogane? We’ve brought Rover.”

“Oh yeah?” Lance leaned a bit further over the counter so he could look down at Rover. “Awww, look at that cutie!”

Keith joined him, and the two of them stared down at Rover, Lance cooing while Keith offered his fingers for a sniff. Rover, pleased with all of the attention, gave them a huge doggy grin, his tail wagging madly. Matt silently sighed in relief as the two of them seemed to focus on the dog rather than each other. It was too early to be dealing with confrontation.

“Okay, let’s get you checked in,” Lance said as soon as he’d given Rover a good scratch on the head. Keith offered him the chair he’d pushed away, fight forgotten, and leaned over Lance’s shoulder to watch him as he worked. Matt was surprised and how closely Keith was pressing into Lance’s space. It seemed oddly familiar of him, considering how loudly they’d been fighting earlier.

“Just giving you the heads up,” Keith said, the bored monotone gone and an actual personality coming into his voice now that he’d warmed up to them a bit, “Dr. Shirogane is actually running a bit late today. He just got here right before you, and he’s still getting set up. He shouldn’t be long, though, maybe another five minutes? I can do the preliminary stuff while you wait.”

“Why _you_?” Lance immediately asked, offended. “Is it because you’re supposed to be _better_ than me? We both know I’m better with dogs!”

“No, it’s because you’re doing the computer stuff, genius.”

Matt wanted to groan. Couldn’t these two go five minutes without fighting? Who thought it was as good idea to schedule them together if they were going to act like _this_? But the moment Keith led them into an exam room and started checking Rover over, he took on a calm, professional attitude. The sudden 180° in personality threw Matt for a loop.

After he was done, he instructed them to wait, and then took his notes into the back. Katie and Matt shared a look.

“What is up with _them_?” Katie asked, voicing Matt’s thoughts exactly.

“No idea,” Matt admitted with a shake of his head.

“They’re dating,” Dr. Shirogane said as he entered the room. Matt and Katie both jumped; they hadn’t heard the door opening. “I swear, they’re both excellent techs. Couldn’t ask for a better set of hands. But sometimes…” he trailed off with a shake of his head. “I’m sorry, usually they don’t fight in front of the patients. I’ll have to speak to them about that.”

“No, no,” Katie interjected. “It’s okay. We don’t want to get anyone in trouble.”

Matt would have agreed with her, but he was too busy struggling to remember to breathe. In the days since they had last visited, Matt had managed to convince himself that his imagination had just exaggerated how handsome Dr. Shirogane was. That Dr. Shirogane wasn’t quite the glowing specimen that his memory seemed to recall. But oh no, it was _worse_. He was somehow even _more_ beautiful than Matt remembered.

Matt was so screwed.

Dr. Shirogane was thankfully distracted by Rover pretty quickly, who yipped and bounced in excitement when the vet greeted him with a good rub all down his sides and across his shoulders. Matt caught himself feeling _jealous_ of his own dog when he started wishing that Dr. Shirogane would rub _him_ down like that, and he quickly bit the inside of his cheek to knock himself out of it. It didn’t help that he could practically feel Katie’s smug amusement as he watched Dr. Shirogane work.

At one point Dr. Shirogane briefly stepped out of the room to grab some paperwork he’d forgotten, and the moment he was gone, she leaned over and hissed in Matt’s ear, “Bro, you have got it _bad_.”

“I know,” Matt whispered back, his shoulders slumping.

The rest of Rover’s check-up went well. The dog had recovered completely, back to his usual friendly self, and Dr. Shirogane was happy to report that he didn’t have any concerns about Rover’s health at this point. He just needed a few booster shots and vaccines to make up for the ones he’d missed in the years he hadn’t been brought in, and then he’d be able to go home with a clean bill of health.

Pathetically, the highlight of the visit was when Dr. Shirogane got them to hold onto Rover while he got his injections so he wouldn’t pull away, and Matt’s arm brushed against the vet’s for a whole two seconds. Matt felt like he was floating on air, the place they touched tingling.

Dr. Shirogane led them to the counter and spoke to Lance briefly, but he didn’t have time to linger with them for long, as the next patient was already waiting. Still, Matt couldn’t help watching him leave, waiting until he’d stepped back into the exam room to turn back to the counter.

“All set?” Lance asked, watching Matt curiously. He already had the bill printed out and waiting on the counter.

Once again, Matt stared down at the number on the page in shock. Even though Hunk had said the discount last time was a one-time thing, the vet bill was still less than he’d expected. He glanced up at Lance, debating about making a comment. It didn’t feel right to let it slide, though.

Thankfully, Lance seemed to anticipate his question. “Hey, man. I just type up what Shiro gives me. Uh, Dr. Shirogane.”

“Okay, then,” Matt said, confused but pleased. “Um, I’ll put this on credit again?” Ugh, even with the discounts, Matt’s credit card bill this month was gonna be a doozy.

He was just finishing signing the paperwork when Katie suddenly lunged across the counter, grabbing a flyer off of the top of a pile. Matt startled, leaving a long stroke of ink across the page. “Katie!”

“Hey!” she thrust the flyer in Lance’s face, “what’s this?”

“Dude, watch it!” Lance leaned back from the sudden attack, his eyes going crossed as he tried to stare at the paper so close to his nose. “What, our volunteer animal hour?”

“Yeah, what’s that?”

“Uh, well, it’s in association with the local shelter,” Lance explained, carefully pushing the flyer away from his face so he could actually breathe. “It’s something Shiro – sorry, Dr. Shirogane – started up. Basically on Saturdays, he goes to the shelter to give the animals check-ups and help out and stuff, and he invites people to join him and give him a hand. They can play with the animals for an hour to help socialize them, or help with odd tasks that need to be done around the shelter. It’s supposed to be really good stress relief, and who doesn’t like hanging out with animals?”

“And can anyone go?” Katie asked. Matt squinted at her. She was up to something, he just knew it, but what? Was she hoping to bring home another animal? He hoped she remembered what Mom said; no more pets. Otherwise he would have adopted a cat ages ago. He loved Rover, Rover was such a good dog. But he’d always wanted a cat too.

“Yeah, anyone can show up. It’s walk-in,” Lance said. “I go whenever I’ve got a day off, it’s a blast.”

“And Dr. Shiro goes?” she pressed.

“Um, yeah? It’s his thing, so of course he does.”

“Cool, thanks. Can I keep this?” she asked, and then before he could answer she shoved it into her bag. Without looking back, she walked out the door, Rover trailing faithfully behind her. Matt and Lance stared after her in shock.

“Um…thanks,” Matt said once he’d recovered his wits. Then, grabbing up his paperwork and leaving the signed sheets behind, he raced after his sister. “Katie, wait up!”

“What the hell?” he asked the moment he caught up to her. “What was _that_ all about?!”

“After today, you’re not going to have an excuse to see Shiro anymore,” she explained casually, “unless Rover gets sick again. Which had better not happen.” She gave the dog a pointed stare. “So, you need a new way to see him. When I saw the flyer, I knew it was perfect.”

“Katie,” Matt sighed. He was torn between being annoyed at her meddling, and touched that she was trying so hard to help him. “Really. I don’t have time to go to this shelter thing. You know I’ve got too much going on.”

“Yeah, but _Shiro’s_ there,” she pointed out. “And you don’t have to go _every_ week. Just think about it.”

She held out the flyer to him. In the sunshine, the fluorescent orange paper was almost painful to look at. It was covered in bold letters and cheesy clipart of animals, clearly put together to make the event seem as fun as possible.

Matt groaned, but took the sheet from her. “I’ll _think_ about it,” he said, even as he folded the paper and carefully tucked it away in his back pocket. Katie just laughed at him, before racing towards the car, Rover running alongside with his tongue lolling out.

+++

Matt told himself he was just humouring Katie. He just pinned the flyer to the corkboard above his desk so that she wouldn’t demand to know what he’d done to it. He just kept his Saturday morning open in case something came up or he needed extra study time. He had no intention of going to the shelter event. And even if he did feel like going, just so he could hang out with cute animals and get a little stress relief, and for _no other reason Katie_ , he certainly couldn’t afford to go this week. There was too much to be done.

But after the third day in a row he woke up with a steamy dream featuring Dr. Shirogane fading from his mind, he had to admit defeat. He _needed_ to see Shiro again.

When he got up bright and early Saturday morning, despite it being his one morning off this week, Katie smirked at him from across the breakfast table. But Matt just continued to shovel corn flakes into his mouth, ignoring her.

+++

Matt pulled up to the building, staring up at it in trepidation. He hadn’t been here since they rescued Rover when he was a kid, and he hardly recognized the shelter anymore. It had been renovated in the past few years, the sign above the entrance bright and shiny, and the front door was open wide in invitation. Still, Matt couldn’t help but feel nervous.

But he could already hear Katie mocking him in the back of his head if he dared to turn back now, so with a deep breath, he got out of the car. He walked into the shelter slowly, blinking at the change in light between outside and indoors. Once he had adjusted, he looked around for an information desk.

“Oh hey!” he heard someone say behind him, and he turned around. Lance from the vet’s office grinned and walked over, clapping Matt on the shoulder. “Wasn’t expecting _you_ to be the one to show up! I thought your sister was the one interested.”

“Oh, um, no. Just me,” Matt admitted nervously, tugging at the hem of his shirt. “I’m stressed a lot with school so I guess she thought this would be good for me?” Ugh, why did he have to sound so uncertain?

Thankfully Lance didn’t seem to notice. “That’s cool. And yeah, she’s right. You basically get to hang out with a bunch of animals for an hour, it’s so much fun. Do you have any allergies? I’m assuming you’re cool with dogs ‘cause you have one, but how do you feel about cats?”

“I like them, though I’ve never had one,” Matt confessed. “I’ve always wanted a cat.”

He blinked as he suddenly found himself pressed to Lance’s side, an arm slung over his shoulder. Lance guided him past the shelter’s entrance, waving to the person on duty at the info desk, and breezed into the bowels of the shelter. Instantly they were bombarded with the scent and sounds of the animals and cleaning chemicals, dogs barking and howling, cats meowing, cages rattling, and a single bird chirping away. Matt stared around at all of the cages with soft eyes, his heart going out to the animals.

“That’s good,” Lance said, cutting into Matt’s thoughts. “Because I’m pretty sure Shiro said they just got a bunch of cats in, and he’s gonna be focusing on them today. Apparently someone brought them in after they found them abandoned on the side of the road.”

“Oh god, that’s awful,” Matt gasped, horrified.

“Yeah. It’s pretty bad. But hey, they’re safe now! And they’re in good hands with Shiro. Here we are!” Lance announced as they came to a stop in front of a door. Through the glass window, Matt could see a large examining room, not unlike the one at the vet’s office, just much bigger. There was a box sitting on the counter, and Matt could see a tiny gray head poking out the top.

He made a little squeaking noise, completely unashamed.

“Oh my god, you didn’t tell me they were _kittens_! They’re so _cute_!” He couldn’t resist pressing his face against the glass window as more tiny faces came into view.

“Oh lord,” Lance muttered under his breath, so quiet Matt wasn’t sure if he was supposed to have heard. “He is _screwed_.”

“What was that?” Matt asked, forcing himself to look away from the kittens in the room.

“Nothing!” Lance said, suspiciously fast. “Nothing. Just…need to make sure we go over the rules! First, you gotta wash your hands. Make sure you don’t touch any other animals without washing your hands first, because we don’t know what bugs these little guys are carrying. Are you okay with getting a little dirty? We don’t know if these kittens are sick or if they’re litterbox trained, so you might get covered in shit if one of them has the runs, or they might throw up on you.”

Matt screwed up his face. “Ugh, there’s a lovely picture. But it’s fine. Between Katie and Rover, I’m sure I’ve seen worse. Besides,” he gestured to himself and his dirty jeans and threadbare shirt. The jeans were old and worn, covered in paint blotches, just a smidge too big so that they hung low on his hips. He kept them for doing dirty projects like painting or gardening. The shirt had actually belonged to his Dad, the NASA logo on it worn and faded after years of wear and tear, and it had shrunk after going through the wash one too many times. It clung to Matt’s torso a little uncomfortably, but that meant he didn’t mind if it got ruined. “The flyer said don’t wear nice clothes. I came prepared. I’m good.”

Lance gave him a once-over, his eyes lingering on the tiny strip of belly exposed by the loose jeans and the tight top, and he smirked. “I can see that,” he said strangely.

But before Matt could ask him what that was supposed to mean, Lance was squirting some sanitizer into his hand and leading him into the room.

“Shiroooooo! We got some fresh meat!” he shouted, poking his head into the back room connected to the exam room. Matt heard something drop with a crash, followed by a muffled curse. “Come meet our new guest!”

Matt, however, immediately bee-lined for the box of kittens the moment the sanitizer dried on his hands. He didn’t dare touch the kittens yet, waiting for someone to tell him it was okay, but he peered down into the box curiously. He practically squealed when he found six tiny balls of fluff inside, all staring up at him and mewling. They were all tabbies, as far as he could tell, but they ranged in colour from a dark smoky grey to a pale cream. They pawed at the lip of the box, reaching out to him with tiny paws. Matt cooed at them, making kissy faces.

“Uh, hi there.”

Matt looked up mid-coo, his lips still puckered. “Wha…? Oh my god.” He went bright red as he realized that Dr. Shirogane had arrived, and had caught him using baby talk on the kittens. He must have looked so _stupid_. He ducked his head, hiding his face behind his bangs.

“Um, hi,” he choked out, his eyes focused firmly on the ground. Oh god, this was so embarrassing. Maybe he should just leave. “I’m, um. Here to help?”

There was a pause where no one said anything. Feeling his heart pounding in his chest, Matt dared to look up just in time to catch Lance elbowing Dr. Shirogane in the side. Hard.

“Ow, Lance! Uh, sorry,” Dr. Shirogane cleared his throat and held out his hand. His face was a little pink, probably embarrassed on Matt’s behalf. “Matt, right? Sorry about that, I just got held up with paperwork.”

Matt shook Dr. Shirogane’s hand shyly, grateful that he seemed willing to pretend that he saw nothing. And he couldn’t help but feel very pleased that Dr. Shirogane had remembered his name, even though they’d only met twice and he must have seen hundreds of people every day at his job. He took the opportunity to check the other man out as subtly as he could. Dr. Shirogane was missing his usual white lab coat today, though he still had a stethoscope hanging around his neck, and instead wore nothing but jeans and a tight black t-shirt that clung to his biceps nicely. Matt approved of the casual look. “It’s okay, Dr. Shirogane. I was um, just…”

“Please, call me Shiro,” Dr. Shirogane said quickly. “Dr. Shirogane is just for the office.”

“Oh, uh, okay. Shiro.” Matt couldn’t help the little thrill that raced through his gut. He was already on ‘Shiro’ basis with the man! “So what should I do?”

“I trust Lance went over the rules with you?” Shiro asked, glancing over at Lance for confirmation. Lance was watching them both with narrowed eyes for some reason, but he instantly pasted on a cheerful expression when he noticed Shiro was looking and gave him a big thumbs up.

“You know it!” he declared proudly.

“I don’t think we’re going to be getting anyone else joining us today, so why don’t we get started. Matt, Lance and I are going to work on giving these kittens their check-ups, make sure they’ve got all their vaccines, and run some tests. Can you keep them entertained while we work? We might also need a spare pair of hands for some things, but we’ll let you know.”

Matt’s smile was brighter than the sun. He got to play with _kittens_ today.

“Sure!” he said brightly, already reaching into the box and scooping up a kitten in each hand. They were so soft, squirming against his fingers as he set them down on the table. Once they were all out and exploring, Lance directed him towards a box of cat toys in the corner, and then he and Shiro got to work while Matt kept the kittens from straying too far.

Shiro and Lance talking quietly to each other became Matt’s background noise as he played and cooed and chatted with the kittens. They were good listeners, and they didn’t mind him explaining his thesis to them. It was nice to talk to someone about it who hadn’t heard it a million times before, even if they were just kittens.

The time flew by. When Shiro finally declared that they were all finished, Matt looked up at him with a distraught expression. He’d been having so much fun!

“Really? Already?” he asked sadly.

“A-ah,” Shiro seemed to be caught off guard by Matt’s reaction. He cleared his throat again, scratching the bridge of his nose. “Um, well. It’s, uh, actually been almost two hours,” he pointed out.

Matt stared at the clock on the wall in shock. Two hours?! He hadn’t been paying attention at all! He cursed as he realized he was going to be late for the tutorial he was supposed to be leading for the undergrads today, unless he skipped lunch. Or didn’t go home to change. He glanced down at his clothes and grimaced. Starvation it was.

“Sorry, I have to go now,” Matt said in a rush, “I wasn’t paying any attention to the time, I’m so sorry!”

“That’s okay, we can take it from here,” Shiro quickly assured him, holding out the hand sanitizer bottle for Matt to use. “Thank you for all of your help.”

“Same time next week?” Matt asked, rubbing his hands clean and digging around in his pocket for his keys. He cursed again when his baggy jeans slipped down his hip a bit.

When Shiro didn’t respond, he looked up, confused. Shiro was staring at him, mouth hanging open slightly.

“Uh, that’s right!” Lance cut in, startling Shiro and drawing Matt’s attention. “Same time next week. You should totally come, you’ve been a _huge_ help. We’d both love it if you came back, wouldn’t we Shiro?” He gave Shiro a heavy stare.

“Um, yes. Always happy to have more help,” Shiro agreed. For some reason, this made Lance stare at him harder.

“Cool! See you guys next week!” Matt promised, and then he was out the door.

It wasn’t until he was back on the road, in a change of clothes and a granola bar shoved between his teeth, that he realized he hadn’t actually checked if he was free. Katie would have laughed her ass off if she were there.


	2. Chapter 2

It turned out he wasn’t free.

Matt stared at his calendar in despair and wanted to cry. There was no way he would be able to make it to the shelter on Saturday between the lab shift he had to cover and his midterm on Monday which he still needed to study for. He couldn’t do it without affecting his grades, and he wasn’t _that_ far gone over Shiro. The man was just a crush, and unfortunately school came first.

He moped all day about it, though. Finally after dinner Katie appeared in his bedroom doorway, her hands on her hips.

“What the heck has gotten into you today,” she cried, exasperated, walking into his room to flop on his bed and glare at him. She was puffed up, ready for a fight. “You’ve been all doom and gloom since this morning! I thought after getting to hang out with _kittens_ and _Shiro_ , you’d be on cloud nine for the rest of the month!”

“I told Shiro I’d be back next week, but I didn’t realize I had too much going on,” Matt told her sadly. He pulled his glasses off so he could tiredly rub at his eyes. “I feel bad because they’ll be expecting me and I can’t go.”

“Oh,” she said, deflating a little. “Wow, yeah, that kind of sucks. Can’t you call him and let him know?”

“I guess,” Matt considered it. “But I think that would be too weird, don’t you agree? I’ve only been once.”

“Maybe.” The two fell silent as Katie pondered his predicament and Matt turned back to his study notes. He’d almost made it through the chapter when he heard Katie sigh and climb off of his bed.

She walked over to his desk and rested a hand heavily on his shoulder. “Matt, you know I love you. And because I do, I’m going to help you out,” she told him seriously.

“Oh? How,” he asked, suspicious. She didn’t _sound_ too evil at the moment, but he could never be sure when it came to his sister.

“I will go in your place,” she declared, making the statement as dramatic as a line from a movie where one character sacrificed themself for another. “I’ll cut my hair and dress up in your clothes, and – ”

“No,” Matt shot her down immediately.

“What? Come on, everyone always says we look so much alike! He won’t even notice!”

“No,” he repeated, actually turning his chair to look at her. “One, because I’m not letting you near my clothes; I’ll never get them back. Two, life is not like the movies. And three, I have no idea what kinds of stuff you might say to him while I’m not there, but I know you well enough to know it wouldn’t end well.”

She ducked her head and grinned, caught. “Oh come on. I’d only hit on him for you a little.”

“No. Also, _hell_ no. Also also, how would you even get there? You can’t drive, I’m not driving you, and mom and dad are away this weekend for dad’s conference.” He gave her a hard stare.

“Oh yeah,” she wilted.

“It’s okay, thanks for offering, though,” Matt tried to soften the blow. “I mean, it’s really kind of cool that you’d be willing to cut your hair and pretend to be a boy for me.”

“Of course I would,” Katie said with a roll of her eyes. She leaned down and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. “You’re my brother.”

“Yeah, I love you too,” Matt laughed, returning her hug.

+++

Matt may have missed out on the next week’s shelter session, but he was determined to go the week after. Better yet, the last of his midterms would be finished that Thursday, the professor had just given the entire class an extension on their lab reports, and his usual tutorial session had been cancelled because the room wasn’t available. He had no reason not to go. It was like the universe was _telling_ him to go.

This time he decided to wear sweatpants instead of his ratty old jeans. They weren’t exactly the most fashionable, and they were still too big, but at least these ones had a drawstring and were more comfortable. Katie vetoed the NASA shirt, instead pulling an old muscle shirt out of the bottom of his closet. He winced when he saw it. He’d bought it years ago, back when he’d first started school and was labouring under the delusion that he’d actually have time to go to the gym between classes. It had ‘Training to be Batman’ across it in bold yellow letters, and the Batman logo beneath. He still thought it was cute.

“Really, Katie?” he groaned. “Come on, he’ll think I’m a nerd.”

“You _are_ a nerd,” she pointed out, and he couldn’t exactly deny it. “Besides, if you’re wearing sweatpants, you kinda have to wear workout gear. Otherwise you just look like a slob.”

“I wore stained jeans and an old t-shirt last time,” he argued.

“ _Exactly_. It’s not too late to fix this.” She shoved the shirt into his hands. “Just trust me. It shows off your arms better, anyways.”

“What arms?” Matt grumbled, but he still put on the shirt.

When he got to the shelter and pulled into the parking lot, a nervous feeling started gurgling in his stomach. What if Shiro was mad at him for not coming last time, even though he said he would? What if Shiro decided he’d done a really bad job last time and didn’t want him around? What if Shiro took one look at his outfit and burst out laughing?

Ugh, this was getting him nowhere. Annoyed with himself, Matt forced himself out of the car, locking it behind him and striding up through the shelter doors. He faltered momentarily once he was inside, his memory of where to go fuzzy, but then the lady at the info counter waved at him. He walked over.

“You’re here for the volunteering, right?” she asked him kindly. He was a little bit intimidated by her - she was bulky and easily twice his size and looked like she worked out a  _lot_ \- but she had such a sweet voice and such a nice smile that it was hard to be  _too_ scared of her. She actually reminded him a bit of Hunk.

“Uh, yes I am. It’s still going on, right?” He suddenly felt panicked; what if it wasn’t happening today? Damn it, he should have checked!

But she smiled at him and nodded. “Yep! You’re just in time. You can head on back through those doors, and then it’ll be on the left.”

“Thank you,” he told her sincerely, already turning and heading for the door she’d pointed to.

“Oh, and welcome back, by the way! We missed you!” She waved him on with a big wink. Matt couldn’t help blushing a little bit. That was awfully kind of her, though a bit strange. He didn’t think they’d even spoken to each other last time.

Thankfully her directions were easy to follow, and he reached the exam room with no trouble. But when he looked inside, no one was there. Confused, he glanced around.

“Um, hello?” he called out, starting to walk down the hallway, looking for someone who could direct him. “Helloooo?”

“Matt?” Shiro’s voice came from nearby, and then the man himself popped out from one of the doorways up ahead. He spotted Matt, and a warm smile bloomed on his face. “Hey, Matt! Welcome back!”

“Hi, Shiro!” Matt greeted the vet happily, his heart tripping in his chest. He was proud to hear that his voice didn’t shake at all.

“Wow, it’s good to see you,” Shiro said as Matt approached him. He was dressed casually again today, although this time his shirt was a soft grey instead of black, and looked vaguely like a workout shirt. It made Matt feel a little bit better about his own attire. They shook hands, Matt basking in the feeling of Shiro’s hand in his own again. “I…kind of wasn’t expecting you today.”

“Oh?” Matt felt his heart plummet into his shoes. Shiro didn’t want him here?

Shiro must have realized he said something wrong, because he quickly backpedalled. “Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that! Sorry, that must have sounded so rude. I mean, I just wasn’t sure if you were coming back after last week. We thought maybe we’d scared you off or something.” He scratched the bridge of his nose, looking away from Matt.

“I’m sorry about that,” Matt quickly apologized, though his guilt was tempered by a giddy feeling when he realized Shiro didn’t actually want him gone. And it helped that a flustered Shiro was a really cute Shiro. “I know I said I’d be here. I just had a lot of stuff going on between midterms and projects, and I couldn’t make it. But, I checked my schedule _twice_ this time, and I can definitely come back next week for sure.”

“Really? I’m glad to hear it,” Shiro said, that beautiful smile coming back. “Well, if you’re ready, why don’t we get started? I think Hunk and Keith might be coming by today to help, and there’s a high school student that contacted me about volunteer hours, but they won’t be in until later. So it’s just you and me for now.”

Matt swallowed thickly. Him and Shiro alone, huh? Somehow he had to make the best of this.

He was expecting Shiro to take him back to the exam room, but instead Shiro started heading down the hall in the opposite direction.

“Um, what exactly are we doing today?” Matt asked, glancing around at the doors they passed as Shiro led him through the halls. Some of them had glass windows, revealing they led to rooms full of animals up for adoption, but others were solid. He assumed those were offices.

“Hope you’re up for getting wet,” Shiro laughed as he pushed through a door and walked out into the kennels. Matt’s eyes fell on the hose hanging from the wall, the giant kiddy pool full of water and soap suds, and the rows of bottles of doggy shampoo lined up and waiting. “It’s bath day.”

“Oh boy,” Matt said weakly.

“We can start with my buddy Champion,” Shiro explained as he opened one of the kennel pens and brought out a large dog with a dark coat and bright eyes. Matt bit back a gasp when he noticed the dog was missing one of his front legs, but the dog walked with confidence over to the kiddy pool, as if his missing leg hardly affected it.

“He’s…” Matt started to say, but trailed off. Gathering his thoughts, he tried again. “What kind of dog is he?”

“Not sure,” Shiro admitted. “I keep meaning to get him tested for his genealogy, but I keep forgetting. I think there’s some German Shepherd, some Boxer, and some Rottweiler in there, though.”

“What…happened?” Matt reluctantly asked.

“He was a fighting dog,” Shiro explained sadly, watching Champion climb into the kiddy pool. “I assume he lost his leg in a fight, though his previous owner wasn’t exactly forthcoming for some reason.” Shiro’s expression darkened for a second, before clearing. “I managed to rescue him, though, back when I was still in school, and honestly he’s been the sweetest, gentlest thing ever since.”

Matt looked at Champion, who was sitting pleasantly in the middle of the pool with his tongue lolling and his tail waving lazily, looking like there was nowhere else he’d rather be, and he believed it.

“He’s beautiful,” Matt told Shiro sincerely. Shiro absolutely _beamed_ at him.

Champion was marvellously patient with them as Shiro led Matt through the process of how to wash the dogs. Matt had given Rover baths before, but Rover didn’t need a special medicated shampoo that helped prevent pests from getting into his fur, so there was a bit more to it than he was used to. Rover also happened to be a much older dog, so he tended to just sit and let Matt bathe him without trouble. Matt quickly found out that not all of the shelter dogs were so accommodating.

But he was pleasantly surprised to find himself having a blast. The dogs were all so happy to be let out of their cages that they would jump straight up into his arms, even as he led them over to the kiddy pool. Shiro wasn’t kidding about getting wet; after only two dogs Matt was absolutely soaked through. His only consolation was that Shiro got just as soaked, leaving his shirt clinging to his chest and abs in a way that made Matt want to jump into the pool with the dogs just to cool off. But he might get an odd look if he did that, so he just very carefully didn’t look at Shiro’s chest if he could help it.

After the third dog, he started getting frustrated with his glasses getting constantly splattered. After the fourth dog, he decided to abandon them by the door. All they were doing was getting splashed, making it harder for him to see. Besides, they were mostly for reading. He didn’t need them right now.

Shiro looked up from wrestling a particularly energetic mutt into the pool for a good scrubbing and blinked at Matt in surprise. “Where are your glasses?” he asked.

“Took ‘em off,” Matt grumbled, pushing his dripping bangs out of his face. “I don’t really need them right now, they’re just getting in the way.”

“I see,” Shiro said slowly. His attention went back to the dog, pouring shampoo along its wriggling back to soak into its fur, but Matt could still see Shiro watching from the corner of his eyes. Matt tried not to squirm, confused. Did Shiro think he looked strange without his glasses? Most people usually complimented him when he took them off.

He was saved from getting too worked up about it when Hunk and a young man wearing a hoodie and a bored expression walked into the room.

“Hey Shiro!” Hunk said loudly to be heard over the happy barks of the dog in the pool. “Sorry I’m late! I ran into Jamie, here, at the door.”

“Awesome, come on in guys!” Shiro finished shampooing the dog and stepped back so Matt could hose it down. The dog hopped around in the spray, trying to snap it up in its jaws. “Hunk, not sure if you remember Matt?”

Hunk gave Matt an odd little grin. “Oh yeah, hey Matt! You came in with Rover, right?”

“Yeah, that’s me,” Matt waved, before he was suddenly tackled by a happy pooch, looking to spread its love of all things water. Considering the dog was not exactly a small animal, and he wasn’t expecting it, he stumbled and tipped over with a small yelp.

“Oof!” he grunted as he landed against something solid, momentarily stunned.

“Careful!” Shiro said from right next to Matt’s ear. Matt went abruptly still as he realized that he’d fallen into Shiro, and Shiro had caught him. That warmth across his front was Shiro’s arms wrapped around him. His back was pressing against Shiro’s broad chest. He was wrapped up in Shiro’s arms.

Oh god, even dripping wet and covered in dog hair, it felt _amazing_.

The room had gone oddly quiet, even the dogs holding back on their usual chorus of barks. Matt was frozen, not sure what to do. Should he struggle away? Should he lean back more? Should he _play dead_? He was completely trapped in indecision. And it didn’t help that Shiro _wasn’t letting go_. If anything, it almost felt like Shiro was holding him _tighter_.

“Uh, you guys okay?” Hunk piped up, and suddenly Matt was on his feet again. He wasn’t sure if he’d moved or Shiro had, but they were somehow standing a few feet apart now, even though he’d been in Shiro’s arms just moments ago.

“Fine!” Shiro said quickly, his voice strangely hoarse. “I’m fine. Matt, are you okay?”

“Y-yeah,” Matt stuttered. He swallowed, cleared his throat, and tried again. This time his voice came out more naturally. “Yeah, I’m okay. Thanks for the save, Shiro.”

“Anytime,” Shiro said, but he wasn’t looking at Matt. He was very pointedly not looking at Matt. He was staring down at the kiddy pool like the murky waters had all of the answers to the universe, his face creased with a frown.

“Um, should we get the next dog?” Matt prompted when Shiro didn’t start moving.

“Sure,” Shiro agreed softly, but he still didn’t look at Matt. And when he headed for the kennels to grab the next dog, he went around the far side of the pool from Matt, even though it was the longer path.

Matt drooped a little. What had happened? Why was Shiro suddenly acting so strangely, avoiding him? He looked to Hunk, feeling helpless and lost.

But Hunk was glancing between him and Shiro, a torn expression on his face. “Uh, listen Matt,” he began to say. “Shiro is…hang on a sec. I just need to talk to him about something. Can you show Jamie what we’re doing here?” And before Matt could answer him, he dashed off after Shiro.

The highschooler raised his eyebrow at Matt. “You guys are weird,” he drawled out, shoving his hands into his pockets.

Matt just sighed and held out the hose. “Here, we’ll start with this.”

By the time he’d finished running Jamie through the process, Shiro and Hunk still hadn’t come back. Feeling very put-out, Matt glanced at the time. Technically he should stay for another ten minutes to make up the full hour, but suddenly he wasn’t feeling up to it. He quickly glanced towards the back of the kennel where Shiro and Hunk had disappeared, hoping they’d suddenly come back with big smiles and promises that everything would be back to normal, but they didn’t. With a sigh, Matt turned to Jamie.

“Hey, listen,” he said. “Can you do me a favour?”

Jamie raised his eyebrow again.

Assuming that meant yes, Matt continued. “I’ve got to get going, can you tell the others that I had to go home when they come back? I don’t want them to think I just ran off or something.”

“Yeah, sure, whatever,” Jamie sighed. Matt hoped that he’d actually do it, otherwise he’d be bailing on Shiro twice now without explaining himself. Though, based on how Shiro had been acting before, maybe he wouldn’t actually care that much.

“Thanks,” Matt said softly, and then he grabbed his glasses by the door and walked out. He made it to the car without incident, and only when he got there and opened the door did he realize he had no change of clothes and his pants were soaked through.

“Damn it,” he muttered. It was going to be a long, uncomfortable car ride home.

+++

“You just _left_?!” Katie roared at him. “Matt! What the hell is wrong with you?”

“Katie, can we not do this right now?” he groaned, struggling to peel the soaked tank top off of his chest. “I’m tired, I’m wet, I’m sore. I’m not in the mood, okay?”

She looked like she wanted to press the issue, but when Matt actually started shucking his pants, heedless of her presence, she took the hint.

“Fine, but don’t come crying to me,” she snarled, before spinning on her heel and storming out of the room. Matt listened for the slam of her bedroom door before sighing, letting his dirty clothes drop to the floor to be dealt with later. For now he just wanted a shower, a warm cup of tea, and a nap.

+++

Even though he really didn’t want to go back to face Shiro again, he _had_ promised he’d be there this week. And he didn’t want to bail _again_. So the next weekend he threw on whatever clothes he found on his floor, uncaring of what he was wearing, and hopped in the car. He walked in, feeling a strange mix of dread and hope. Maybe he’d just imagined it? Maybe things would be back to normal today, and they could pretend that little hiccup last week had never happened.

He waved at the info desk lady, already heading for the back rooms to find Shiro. He faintly thought he heard her calling after him, but he brushed it off as his imagination. She had no reason to call him back, he knew where he was going. Sure enough he found the door, and when he glanced inside he spotted Shiro leaning against the table. Squaring his shoulders, he pushed open the door.

“Hi, Shiro! Sorry I left in such a hurry last time, I just – ” He stopped short, his eyes going wide in shock.

“M-Matt!” Shiro gasped. “I – ”

“Who’s this, Takashi?” the older woman pinning Shiro to the table drawled. Her face was shadowed by a large sunhat, long hair that was so blonde it looked almost white spilling over her shoulders. Her long painted nails were like claws clutching at Shiro’s chest possessively.

“I, uh…” Matt couldn’t speak, the words becoming ash in his mouth. Her cruel eyes narrowed.

“No one important, then,” she sniffed dismissively, turning her attention back to Shiro. “Now, where were we?” she purred, nails catching on Shiro’s shirt.

Matt had seen enough. He turned and left, his heart pounding in his chest and the pulse in his ears drowning out all sound. He walked back through the halls on autopilot, barely acknowledging the info desk woman as he passed her. She gave him a helpless stare, as if she knew what had happened. She might have tried to call him back but he couldn’t hear her. He just kept walking.

He was so _stupid._ Of _course_ Shiro was already taken. No wonder he had been acting so strangely last week; he’d probably found out about Matt’s stupid crush and was trying to figure out how to get the creepy clueless guy to back off. Matt was such an _idiot_.

He was across the parking lot and almost into his car when a hand on his arm stopped him. He froze, and suddenly realized he was breathing hard like he’d been running, his chest heaving. Thankfully he didn’t seem to be crying at least, but it felt like a close thing.

His vision had been tunnelling, but now it returned and he realized he was staring at Keith, who was hanging onto his arm with a death grip. Behind him were Lance and Hunk, both watching him with concern.

“Matt!” Keith called with the air of someone who had been doing it for a while.

“What?” Matt asked blankly. He felt numb.

“What happened?” Keith pressed, still holding Matt’s arm. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Matt said quickly, faintly. He felt a lump forming in his throat and he struggled to swallow it down. “Nothing’s wrong. I just have to go.”

Keith, Hunk, and Lance all shared a look. “Matt, seriously,” Hunk stepped forward, resting a hand much more gently than Keith on Matt’s shoulder. “What happened?”

“I just…accidentally walked in on something I shouldn’t have.” Matt looked away from them, embarrassed to admit it. But they didn’t seem like they’d let him go until he explained, so better to just get it over with. “I guess Shiro’s girlfriend came for a visit, and – ”

“What? Shiro doesn’t have a girlfriend,” Lance interrupted. He looked to the others, suddenly looking frantic. “You don’t think…”

“Matt,” Keith turned back to Matt, looking very serious. “The woman you saw with Shiro, was she blonde? Pale eyes? Looked really nasty?”

“U-um, yeah? I guess?” Matt stumbled to say. “Actually, that’s a pretty spot-on description.”

“Shit,” Lance spat. Keith’s hand on Matt’s arm became impossibly tighter, and Hunk’s face turned thunderous. “It’s the witch.”

They started charging across the parking lot, Keith dragging Matt along by the arm. “Hey! Wait, what? Who’s the witch?” Matt shouted after them.

“Haggar. That’s not her real name, but that’s what we call her. She’s Shiro’s ex,” Keith explained tersely, his voice almost a growl. “And she’s abusive as hell. She had her claws in Shiro for a year before we finally got him out of there. She’s really fond of mind games, and she treated Shiro like he was her playtoy. He was really messed up for a while after, but he was just starting to get better, ever since he met…it doesn’t matter. God _damn_ that woman!”

“I thought she was gone for good,” Hunk snarled, and it was particularly jarring to hear the normally cheerful and gentle Hunk sound so furious.

“You gonna be okay bud?” Lance asked, glancing back at Hunk. “I know she messed you up pretty bad last time, freaked you out.”

“I’m fine,” Hunk insisted. “Besides, Shiro needs us. I’m not leaving him alone with her.”

That was all the time they had to discuss, because then they were marching through the doors, on the warpath headed towards the exam room. Matt was more just along for the ride; he didn’t know if he and Shiro were really close enough for him to get involved in something so personal. But if this Haggar person was as bad as they suggested, he wanted to help in any way he could.

Lance led the way, shoving the exam door open so forcefully it slammed into the opposite wall with a loud bang. “Hello, Haggar! Looking as ugly as ever,” he greeted with false cheer.

Haggar glared at them as they filed into the room, but Shiro caught sight of them and practically sagged in relief. He’d managed to escape from her pinning him down, and had moved to the far side of the table so that it acted as a barrier between them.

“Lance, Hunk, Keith,” Haggar acknowledged the group with false sweetness. “There’s no need to be like that. Shiro and I were just having a conversation and – ”

“And now you’re leaving,” Lance commanded, actually reaching towards her as if he would physically drag her out. She stepped back, giving him a dirty glare, but then her eyes darted to the rest of the people in the room. She could clearly see she was outnumbered.

“Fine,” she spat, barely giving Shiro a second look. “He’s useless to me anyways.” And then she strode out of the room with her nose in the air, her stiletto heels clacking on the tile. They waited until they sound faded down the hallway before any of them dared to relax.

“Bitch,” Keith grunted into the quiet. It was like a bubble bursting. Suddenly Shiro was collapsing into a chair, Hunk rushing to his side to check on him, while Keith and Lance put their heads together and started muttering about what they would do about Haggar in case she came back. Matt found himself in the odd position of being completely forgotten, left standing against the wall with no idea what to do.

He felt oddly drained. Too many things had happened in too short a time period, he had emotional whiplash with all of these developments. Hope, disappointment, anger, confusion, fear, and finally relief, all within minutes? It left him feeling kind of dizzy.

He thought about leaving – why should he stay? They clearly were all distracted. But then he looked up to see Shiro watching him. There was something haunted about his expression, his eyes dim and his shoulders slumped, but he still gave Matt a weak smile. And that was the moment Matt knew he had to stay.

He couldn’t walk out on Shiro again. He refused to do that. He refused to keep leaving without explaining, or without letting Shiro explain himself. Because that’s all he’d done so far, just leave. No wonder Katie had gotten so angry at him. He had to stop running away whenever he felt uncomfortable. He had to face this head on, if he wanted to have any hope of ever getting past this. Of ever earning Shiro’s attention. Taking a deep breath, he pushed off of the wall and walked over to Shiro’s side.

“Hey,” Shiro greeted him hoarsely. He sounded exhausted.

“Hey,” Matt said in return. Hunk took that as his cue to head over to the others. The three of them glanced back at Shiro, as if making sure he was okay, and then stepped out into the hallway to finish their plotting.

“Sorry you had to see that,” Shiro whispered. His shoulders hunched down like he was a dog waiting to be hit. “Are you okay?”

“I should be asking you that, shouldn’t I?” Matt, shocked at his own daring, reached out and rested a hand on the nape of Shiro’s neck and started rubbing his thumb in soothing circles over Shiro’s skin.

“I’m fine,” Shiro said, even though Matt could feel the faint trembling under his hand. “She honestly didn’t do much. Just got kind of aggressive. It was a good thing you came in when you did, it gave me a chance to back away.”

“What did she want?” Matt murmured, rubbing at the short hairs on the back of Shiro’s head now. They felt soft and fuzzy against his palm.

Shiro grimaced. “Nothing big. She thought she left some papers by accident at my apartment after we…when we broke up. But I didn’t have them, so she left.”

“That’s good. And I’m pretty sure your friends are going to make sure she doesn’t come back.” Matt glanced up at the doorway, but it looked like the group had moved further along the hallway, and he couldn’t see them anymore. “And, um, if you want, I can stay with you as long as you need. I-in case she decides to try anything. I wish I had stopped her when I first showed up, I should have noticed how uncomfortable you were. I’m so, so sorry, Shiro. I hope I can make it up to you.”

“Um,” Shiro suddenly went still under Matt’s hand, and he paused as well. Had he said something wrong?

“Yes?” Matt prompted when Shiro didn’t speak.

“Uh, this is probably really sudden, and maybe it’s not the best time, considering what just happened…” Shiro’s hands were folded in his lap, but he was clenching and unclenching them into fists, a nervous gesture. The back of his neck was flushed under Matt’s hand, and as he watched the redness spread all the way up to the tips of Shiro’s ears, Matt’s pulse increased, the tiniest flicker of hope growing in his chest. “But, uh…”

“Yes?” Matt licked his lips in anticipation.

“I was wondering.” Shiro peeked up at him, looking very shy for the first time since Matt first met him. “If you wanted to go for coffee sometime?”

“L-like a date?” Matt asked, his heart pounding, struggling to keep his voice even. “Because I want to be absolutely 100% clear about this. Like, no misunderstandings or confusion. You mean a date, right?”

“Yes, I mean a date,” Shiro ducked his head back down, embarrassed. But Matt didn’t let him hide for long. He dropped to his knees in front of Shiro so that he could look up at the other man and _grin_.

“Yes. Yes absolutely I would love to go for date-coffee with you,” he said.

Shiro instantly perked up. “Really? Seriously?”

“Are you kidding me? Yes! I’ve been crushing on you since the beginning! Of _course_ I want to go out with you!”

“Oh my god, you’re joking,” Shiro moaned, burying his face in his hands. “I could have asked you out back then?”

“Wait, you wanted to ask me out? Back _then_? When I came in with Rover?” Matt boggled. “I barely said two words to you! And I just proved I was a completely irresponsible pet owner by not visiting the vet for years!”

“You were adorable, and you looked so guilty about it I knew you didn’t do it on purpose,” Shiro laughed. He sounded shaky still, but much happier.

“Seriously, how did you not notice I liked you?” Matt couldn’t help but groan. “I’m pretty sure my crush was visible from _space_.”

“Excuse me.” Shiro actually reached out and shoved lightly at Matt’s shoulder. “I think you mean _my_ crush was obvious, not yours. Every single member of the staff at the vet clinic and half the people at the shelter were teasing me about it. And I kept giving you discounts on your vet bill! _I_ was the obvious one. But you? You start showing up to the shelter and helping out, and then you suddenly vanish for a week even though you said you’d be back, and then you come back again but leave without saying goodbye; I didn’t know what to think! You kept giving me such mixed signals.”

“Oh yeah,” Matt winced. It was his turn to duck his head. When Shiro put it like that, it did seem pretty bad. God, it was a miracle Katie hadn’t kicked his ass by now for being such an idiot. “You’re right, that wasn’t fair of me. But that’s why I’m going to be completely honest with you now when I say this. I really, really like you. I definitely want to date you, if you’re still interested.”

He dared to look up, and his breath caught in his throat. Shiro was staring at him so warmly, looking so happy and beautiful, he couldn’t look away. His hands came up and rested on Matt’s shoulders.

“Is it okay if I kiss you now?” Shiro asked softly. When Matt gave him a shaky nod, he shifted his grip from Matt’s shoulders to his jaw, tilting his head up gently. Matt’s eyes fluttered closed as Shiro leaned forward, and then their lips came together in a soft kiss.

When they pulled apart, Matt’s heart was pounding in his chest, and he felt like he was floating. “Wow,” he murmured.

“Yeah,” Shiro whispered back. “Want to get out of here?”

Matt frowned. “Don’t we have stuff to do here?” Surely there was something that needed to be done around the shelter today. There was always something that needed to be done.

“I’ll talk to Shay, I’m sure she’ll understand when I tell her that my ex was here. She’s heard the story before.” Shakily Shiro got to his feet, and Matt rushed up to support him when he swayed slightly. “I’m not really feeling up to doing anything technical anymore, anyways.”

“That’s okay,” Matt quickly reassured him. “Coffee isn’t technical at all. Do you need to change? Should _I_ change?” He glanced down at his outfit. Once again he had dressed for a messy day of caring for animals; he didn’t exactly look like he was ready for a date.

“Why? You look absolutely perfect to me,” Shiro informed him with a grin. “Although, at least today your pants actually fit. Good lord I thought you were trying to kill me with all those low-hanging hip huggers. And then you got _wet_ and I thought your pants were actually going to fall off, and I seriously thought I was going to die.”

Matt had the grace to blush.

After Shiro stopped off to speak to the friendly info desk lady – and formally introduced her as Shay – they walked out of the shelter hand-in-hand. They paused just outside the door, squinting while they adjusted to the bright sunlight. That’s when the hooting and hollering started. Matt looked over across the parking lot to see Keith, Lance, and Hunk all standing by his car, grinning and catcalling.

“About time!” Lance crowed. “He’s been pining after that ass for _weeks_ , man!”

“Lance!” Shiro squawked.

“Sorry, Shiro,” Lance said, not sounding sorry at all. “But you know it’s true. _Pining_. _Yearning. Longing._ I could go on.”

“I was not that bad,” Shiro insisted indignantly, but he was so flustered that they just laughed harder. "Besides, you weren't much better before Keith finally took pity on you and asked  _you_ out."

"Hey!" Lance griped. They all ignored him.

“Where are you two off to now?” Hunk asked, taking pity on them.

“Just coffee,” Matt said, smiling. It was nice to see that Shiro’s friends approved. Even if they made their opinions known quite... _enthusiastically_. “After that…who knows?”

“Well, uh. Shall we go?” Shiro asked, giving Matt’s hand a little squeeze.

Matt squeezed his hand back. He was so happy he thought he could fly. “Yeah. Let’s go.”

+++

“This one,” Matt said firmly, picking up the kitten and holding it up to his face. “Yeah, definitely this one.”

“You sure? I know you seemed particularly attached to that cream one,” Shiro’s eyebrow went up questioningly. But Matt had made up his mind.

“Nope, this one for sure. She’s feisty, so I think she’ll keep Rover entertained. And her coat kind of reminds me of Allura.”

“Okay. So you just need to fill out this paperwork,” Shiro explained, handing over a clipboard. Matt handed the kitten off to Shay to put into a carrier for now. “And once you’re done, you just have to pay the adoption fee and then she’s yours! Congrats, Matt.”

Matt grinned as Shiro leaned over and gave him a peck on the lips. “Thanks. I’ve always wanted a cat. And I think Rover will like the company.” He started filling out the paperwork, scribbling in his details.

“What are you going to name her?” Shiro asked, wrapping himself around Matt from behind and resting his chin on Matt’s head. Matt loved it when he did that – it felt so cozy – so Shiro tried to do it as often as possible.

“I’m not,” Matt said simply. “I’m gonna let Katie do it. As a thank you for being an awesome sister and helping me out with…stuff.”

“Oh?” Shiro sounded amused, as if he knew exactly what kind of ‘stuff’ Matt was referring to. “Well that’s awfully kind of you.”

“Maybe to her,” Matt stuck his tongue out. “Not to this poor thing. She’s gonna get stuck with the weirdest name ever, just wait and see.”

“Well, whatever her name is, don’t forget to bring her in for her first visit,” Shiro said sternly.

“Like you’d _let_ me forget,” Matt laughed. “Every time I go out with you, you ask about Rover. I’m starting to think you’re dating me for my dog, mister.”

Shiro pulled away from Matt to clutch at his chest dramatically in fake hurt. “You insult me. You know I just love animals.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Matt leaned up and kissed Shiro deeply, clutching his hips, grinning when Shiro moaned in surprise against his mouth. “And you know I just love you.”

Shiro melted against him. “I love you too,” he said. And then, a bit more nervously. “So, uh. You’re um, still coming over tonight, right?”

Matt flushed, but nodded eagerly. They’d been working their way up to this for months now, after countless dates and visit and just hanging out. Matt hadn’t slept with anyone before, he’d never really felt comfortable enough with any of his past relationships, and Shiro had still been recovering from what Haggar had done to him, but they’d talked and they both agreed that they felt ready. Matt felt anticipation curl pleasantly in his stomach. “I can’t wait.”

“Good. Good, me neither.”

They stood there a moment, grinning stupidly at each other, and then Shiro suddenly cleared his throat with a cough, stepping away. “Anyways, you better finish with that paperwork. I’ll just, ah. See you tonight?”

“Yeah. See you tonight,” Matt waved as Shiro backed out of the room, wincing when he managed to back into the doorframe and smack his head. He giggled while Shiro blushed and grumbled in embarrassment. But Shiro left without incident after that, leaving Matt to finish filling out the paperwork.

“Man, I’m in love with a dork,” Matt told the kitten in its carrier seriously. The kitten just meowed, pawing at the carrier door. “I couldn’t agree more my friend.”

If someone had told him a few months ago that today he’d be dating an absolutely gorgeous man and be hours away from having sex with him, have his life and school work all together and under control, and be in the process of adopting a cat, he wouldn’t believe them. And yet here he was.

He started humming to himself, happy as could be, eagerly anticipating the night to come.

**Author's Note:**

> As always, my main blog is [ikiracake](http://ikiracake.tumblr.com/) and my voltron blog [i-see-london-i-see-klance](http://i-see-london-i-see-klance.tumblr.com/). Come check me out if you want to see more Voltron stuff!


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